From the Outback to the Glaciers

From $4,599*
pp
|&nbsp
21&nbsp
Days •&nbsp
29&nbsp
Meals&nbsp
*Rate is per person, land only, double occupancy, tour inclusions and available options may vary based on departure date. Please select a date below for more details.

Call Now

Make Your Way from Australia to New Zealand

Explore the diverse wonders of the lands "Down Under." An adventure that includes a “Dreamtime tour” in the rugged Outback introduces you to the Aboriginal life and culture of Alice Springs and Ayers Rock. Meet the Drum Atweme, a musical group supported by the Collette Foundation comprised of at-risk youth. Delve into the colorful world of the Great Barrier Reef. Enjoy a guided tour of the Sydney Opera House and a dinner cruise on Sydney Harbour. Enjoy a choice of a harbor cruise pass or visits to Sydney Tower Eye and Aquarium. Meet Australia's famous wildlife up close. Explore the snow-capped peaks, vistas, gorges and waterfalls of New Zealand's Southern Alps. Cruise Milford Sound. Settle in for a 3-night stay in Queenstown, one of New Zealand’s prettiest towns. Enjoy sweeping views from the famous Sky Line restaurant. Experience the Franz Josef Glacier and the majestic Mt. Cook region. Discover the beautiful 19th-century gold rush settlement of Arrowtown. Cap off your adventure making new friends when dining with a family in their home.

Special Offer

Hot Deals

Look for tours with our special Hot Deal badge. Often with departures that are closer in, these dates offer a great way to save if you are ready to get up and go!

Special Offers Disclaimer

Savings amount varies by cabin type. Use source code "$offercode" for savings. Offer valid on new bookings only made between $offerstartdate – $offerenddate. Offer valid on new bookings only and can expire earlier due to space or inventory availability. Savings amount will vary by tour, departure date and cabin type. Offer is only available on select departures. Savings amount will vary by tour and departure date, and is only available on select departures. Space is on a first come, first served basis. Offers are not valid on group, existing bookings or combinable with any other offer. Other restrictions may apply. Promotional pricing may remain in effect after the expiration date.

Reviews Of From the Outback to the Glaciers

Fantastic would definitely book with them again.

The package they put together was fantastic. They optimized our time to see the maximum amount of the country visited, making the trip educational and enjoyable. They accommodated our requests.

Tour

There was so much going on every day I cannot pick a specific experience. To me, it was all amazing and memorable. From the scenery to the nature to the explanations given about everything we were doing, it was so much more than I expected. This tour was really the experience of a lifetime. The tour manager was so good when we left I felt like we were leaving a friend. I would recommend this tour to anyone.

12/20/2017

Excellent tour to Australia & New Zealand

Service

Collette's service was very good. No issues there.

Tour

All of New Zealand was beautiful.

12/20/2017

Enjoyable Tour

Service

In general, the whole trip was well planned with about the right amount of time spent in each area.
I think doing assigned seating on bus tour days is an excellent idea.
Our tour guide, ************, did and excellent job.

Tour

Very enjoyable, varied experience.

12/19/2017

Excellent trip

Service

It was a fabulous trip--our tour guide *** was the BEST!!!!!. Everything went according to plan. No scheduling issues. A MOST excellent trip

Tour

Everything about this tour was WOW, this was a trip of a lifetime

12/19/2017

A must see adventure

Service

You provided an excellent tour, with great highlights of the countries. You also provided an excellent tour guide that took great care of us and presented the highlights and other facts that made it great.

Tour

To experience the out back and meet the natives, and also learn their history and experiences, was also an interesting point. Then to travel and see the glaciers, what a contrast, and to see what they have done in the country was great.

12/18/2017

luggage travails with collette....

Service

I travelled with Collette before.
On this trip I was surprised/shocked that Collette's rep (she called herself a manager definitely not a guide!!) would emphasised almost daily that she was a manager...
she didn't answer questions- she had drivers for that.
and driving thru the narrow roads they did!
they fumbled with microphone and narrated/guided winding thru the traffic..
rather dangerous if you ask me..
you can not talk to driver on public bus where I live..
go figure...
we spent hours each day waiting in hotel lobbies waiting for our manager to "count" luggage...one day we waited even more when she couldn't find the owner of a small carry-on only to realize (half an hour later..)
that it was her own! that was annoying,,
the other time she kept counting people on the bus.. and one was missing,,
so she re counted and counted again.. only to realize that she didn't count herself in the tally...
no ,,, you cannot make this up... you had to be there...
we had to carry our luggage from conveyor thru the street up with elevators then down again, to our bus???!!
After spending all day in a bus, arriving in hotel just minutes before scheduled dinners, we were advised to .."porter" our luggage into rooms.. because it .."might take some time for hotel porters to get it to our rooms??!!
I believed that I paid collet for luggage handling??
some hotels were outstanding!
some rather mediocre!!

Tour

carrying my luggage from a/port conveyors and hotel lobbies
(after I paid Collette for this service??!!)
looking from my hotel window , trying to see the famous mt cook..
and seeing just the brush, bushes. dump..
our rooms were all in the opposite wing in the basement area!!

Hello, thank you for your feedback. A representative from Collette will be reaching out to you directly to learn more about your experience.

Collette Support

12/18/2017

Counting luggage with collette

Service

extremely inefficient flight schedules
with 40 people Collette could have made arrangements for charter flights!
there were airports where we had to schlepp our luggage from conveyor across street up stairs than downstairs to our bus???!!
there were some quite senior/immobile tourist just unable to handle the luggage over such a long distance!
tour "manager" had a snarky advise...I quote.." people you can get a porter job ....
our last porter quit so we are looking for replacement.. wow!!
She ( i will not use her name- she knows who she is..) made very clear the first night that she is the " MANAGER - NOT A GUIDE" .
she spent one hour in 30 C room (A/C broken!!) explaining the difference between guide and manager!! not a word on next day itinerary, just repeated her role as a manager and then wasted more time on 'Collette's tipping guidelines"....
next day , in a bus, we all realized the difference between guide and manager....
All questions were answered with same answer,,,,,
your bus driver is your guide, he will answer your questions....
She emphasized that she was responsible for our luggage....
so each and every day we waited in a hotel lobby and waited, and waited until she counted, re-counted, and again counted the luggage!
one day (after she recounted all luggage three times, she kept asking whose luggage was the one WITHOUT COLLETTE GREEN TAG,
After all people confessed that it was not their luggage....
SHE REALIZED THAT IT WAS HER OWN!!!!
ONE CAN NOT MAKE UP THIS KIND OF A STORY..
YOU HAD TO BE THERE.......
other than that ..she was witty, joyful, cracked jokes, told stories...

Tour

too much time /whole days pent on travel

Hello,\n\nThank you for bringing this to our attention. We have passed this along to a member of our guest relations team who will be reaching out to you to learn more about your experience. If we can be of any more help, please feel free to reach out.

Collette Support

12/12/2017

A very busy tour, some of the trips put us with too many other tourists

Service

Overall Collette was a good choice for this tour, other than a few hick-ups, it went smoothly.

Tour

It has to be the experience at Uluru just outside Alice Springs. Despite the rain at the rock(which had not had rain in 10 months) we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

12/02/2017

Service

Very well organized with many unique opportunities. I especially enjoyed the experiences with Australians and New Zealanders.

Tour

I enjoyed unique experiences and options available.

12/01/2017

Great Customer Service

Service

From the time we began planning, Collette and their customer support representatives were very helpful with their planning suggestions and advice. This continued all the way through our return home from a memory-filled trip.

Tour

This was our first experience with international travel, and it was also our first experience with Collette. We were very happy with all aspects of the tour. There were only a few glitches that were handled very well by our tour manager.

11/28/2017

Wonderful tour! Would definitely do another Collette tour.

Service

Loved that the Tour Manager took care of everything and I didn’t have to worry about any of the logistics. Would have liked to have had our documents sooner to allow sufficient time to completely review them before our departure. We received them less than a week before the tour.

Tour

Most aspects of the tour were great! Loved that the Tour Manager took care of everything and I didn’t have to worry about any of the logistics. The one thing that I didn’t like were the one-night stays in many places. With the one-night stays I felt like I didn’t get to experience the town at all. Would loved to have had more time at Mt. Cook and Phillips Island especially. I did feel like we got to experience a lot, and especially enjoyed time spent with the locals, ie., host dinner in NZ, outback dinner in Australia, and the farm visit for tea. Also really enjoyed the optional train ride to Frank Josef and the snow plane option at Mt. Cook.

11/21/2017

Top notch tour manager!

Service

I appreciated having a driver service for airport transportation. Our tour manager, **** **********, was just a wealth of knowledge. The insight he could give to the countries were traveling to added a richness to the experience I never would of had traveling on my own. He was great at suggestions for free time and the directions he provided to get there, well as the Australians say "spot on"!

Tour

We had a lot of country to travel in 19 days. Each day felt new and full of adventure. Up until the day to return home I kept saying it can't get better than this, but it did.
I loved Alice Springs and Uluru. It was a part of Australia you never see much about. The culture and people were amazing. New Zealand was breathtaking. All the towns we stopped in were extremely friendly and so willing to talk about their home.

11/10/2017

Service

Most of our trip was really very good, but I do have some suggestions. First, no one was at the airport to pick us up after 33 hours in transit. I finally reached a Collette representative and a man showed up in a car too small with poor personal hygeine.
Once we arrived, the hotel was fine, but we learned that the remainder of our tour would be a day late due to a flight cancellation. I had arranged my own flights and arrived a day earlier. This change for our tour forced us to have a very rushed first day experience.
We also lost a day due to another Virgin Australia cancellation en route to Alice Springs. Hiring an unreliable airline to save money resulted in an important piece of the tour lost. The hotel that put us up told us that this was VA's third cancellation that week. Quantas, which we finally flew was the better choice and should have been used in the first place.
As for the tour itself, it was very rushed. I would have preferred more days in one place. Fly from Cairns to Alice Springs, have a couple of days there and in Uluru. I could have skipped Melbourne. Sydney was just right.
Would have liked to have hiked at Franz Glacier and Mount Cook. Queenstown was just right.
Do not have the home hosted dinner the last night, instead, let people say goodbye and have the last night together.
All hotels were totally fine. For these reasons, I could only give this tour 3 stars.

Tour

Sydney and Ayers Rock were my favorite experiences.

Hello, thank you for sharing this feedback with us about the tour. We have passed this along to members of our team for review. We appreciate you and value your insight as it helps us to improve our tours for future guests.

Collette Support

11/07/2017

One of the best trips we have taken

Service

Trip was great, saw a lot did a lot and ever thing was set. Tour director and driver were excellent, both had a lot of knowledge of the area.

Tour

Camel ride and ORV drive thru the mountain and river were a joy.
Meals were excellent. NZ sights are unreal....perfect

11/07/2017

A GREAT "WOW" TRIP!

Service

Highly recommend Collette in every aspect of the trip from beginning to the end.
The tour director Dave was excellent in all aspects, very knowledgeable as was
Marty the coach driver, personable and polite!! Both made the trip a "WOW" with
all that we saw, did, options too, and the great new 44 now "friends" we met.
Thanks.

Tour

From the Metro Car, the flights, the places we visited, the things we
did and even the options were all well worth this bucket list trip.Besides the tour itself the options well worth considering like our
Camel Ride! and the 4 Wheel Drive! and more.

10/17/2017

Service

Toni was the best guide we've had on any of our trips. Trip needs a little more time in Melbourne as overnight with an AM drive around is a bit short. New Zealand was AWESOME!!!

Tour

Enjoyed the "little penguins" and everything in New Zealand.

07/12/2017

Trip of a lifetime!

Service

Well organized, telephone reps were friendly and always able to help even when we had delays with our flight. Only tour we saw that includdd the Australian outback. Optional excursions we're fantastic!

Tour

Everything was amazing! Hotels were clean and good quality, included activities, options, the other tour members all made this a trip of a lifetime! My favorite activity was climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I loved the blend of city and outback experiences. Only thing that could have been better was our tour manager. He was knowledgeable and organized and performed the basic requirements of his job, but his personality was sorely lacking. He was very controlling and got irritated when guests asked him to repeat directions or posed questions outside of his prepared agenda for the day. He was actually sarcastic and confrontational at times to some of the guests and to me personally. This is the only reason I'm not giving 5 stars. For the cost of this trip, guests should be able to ask questions at any point on the tour without incident and should never be made to feel like they are annoying. Fortunately the quality of the tour and the amazing experiences we had way overshadowed his shortcomings. Our coach driver in New Zealand more than made up for it with his narration and personal stories. With any other tour manager we would have had a five star experience! I would still travel with Collette again provided I had a different tour manager.

07/11/2017

Great information

Service

Information provided in advance detailed and helpful in planning for trip. Agent that assisted in making travel flights to and from home excellent.

Tour

Great options, however, some included stops could have been excluded to provide more time in places that were too short.

06/13/2017

A Beautiful Taste of Two Wonderful Countries

Service

It was quite an adventure to be on so many modes of transportation and to visit such a variety of places.
There were so many choices for exhilarating experiences, and although the tour group consisted of mainly a 60-plus age group, it was never assumed -that we couldn't handle it.
There was also the choice to lay back when needed or to not participate in certain things. I'm happy that
my friend and I did try just about everything. We also had a nice glimpse into local cultures by visiting private homes, farms, wineries, and a venue in the Outback, among other things.
Our tour guide, *Personal Details removed by Feefo* and the various drivers had a wealth of knowledge.
Great job, Collette!

Tour

I can't really pick one, but the sunset at Uluru, meeting the Aboriginal people,and buying their artwork stands out as an amazing experience.
(I can't seem to attach a photo..the link just brings me to my camera)

05/24/2017

Service

Travel arrangements were generally excellent. The only problems we experienced were not within your ability to control, particularly the problems we had in LA, with the movement from domestic to international terminals.
The tour itself was excellent. The only complaint we had was the frequent "one night stays" at various hotels, with the continuous packing and unpacking. Due to the distances between various events, this was understandable, but still an irritant.
Our tour guide, *Personal details removed by Feefo* was an example of excellence, with her knowledge and attention to details involved in the tour. This was our second tour with Collette and both were truly outstanding. We'll certainly consider Collette when we decide on our next adventure.

Tour

The tour, and the events included, were everything we had hoped for. Too many locations and events to really single out any particular one to mention.

05/04/2017

Enjoyable trip - saw so much!

Service

Everything went without a hitch. No one lost luggage, everything was as scheduled. No problems. Only suggestion would be to travel in a more logical manner. We flew to Queenstown only to fly to Christchuch, then drive back to Queenstown. Seems like a waste.

Tour

So many memorable experiences because we saw so much.

05/02/2017

Service

trip hit all of the necessary places to see. At times a little too much but we understand the regions dictate that. Excursions compiiment.

Tour

excursions we took were good.

04/26/2017

Service

Not enough free time. Had to fly too much. Should have gone from Cairns to Alice Springs to Melbourne to Sydney. Should have charter flights for 40+ passengers. We had 42. I liked the Great Barrier Reef. I liked New Zealand better than Australia. Beautiful country. Needed to include drinks with the dinner on the Steamship to Dinner excursion. The sing-a-long on the way back from the dinner was fun. The best part of the trip was the Fiji extension. I do appreciate the late checkout at the hotel. Tour guide was good. She did let 1 couple get away with being late nearly every time. She had to "baby sit" them the whole trip.

Tour

It was a good trip, but it did cost way too much for what we got. I really do think you should see if you can get charter flights in Australia. New Zealand was a really pretty country. Fiji was the best part.

04/26/2017

Service

The hotels were good. The boxed breakfast at the Sydney hotel was NOT GOOD. The one at Christchurch was better. I do appreciate having the boxed meals though. It would have been nice to have a hotel in Sydney in the harbor area although the other one was ok. I know it is necessary to fly to the different places in Australia, but maybe charter flights instead of commercial?? That was a very expensive trip and I think we spent too much time in airports. We also could have used a little more free time. The Flying Doctor and telegraph sites were good, but I would have enjoyed more time at the pool at the hotel.

Tour

*Personal Details removed by Feefo* was an excellent tour guide. The drivers were pretty good. The driver in New Zealand was excellent. I enjoyed the dinner in the Hunt's home in Christchurch. I really enjoyed the Great Barrier Reef! I didn't know all that was below the ocean surface!!I It was a good trip. We didn't have much free time though. It would have been good to know that it was possible to get tickets to an event at the Sydney Opera House before we had purchased "A Night Out in Sydney" excursion. It was the date of the excursion when we found out we could get tickets to the performance and it was too late to cancel. Also in New Zealand at the excursion on the TSS Earnslaw Steamship to Dinner cost $105 per person. For that price, we should have been given at least 1 glass of wine and at least a soft drink for dinner! They were charging extra for them. We had to drink water or pay extra. For that price they should have been included. It was really good to go to extend our trip for the last 4 days to Fiji. I appreciate the late checkout Collette provided for us. That was so nice. Thank you. I did recommend this trip to a friend. She and her husband will be celebrating a milestone anniversary in 2 yrs. She said they are going to start saving for this trip.

04/14/2017

Airline Travel department is very poop

Service

Their airline travel department is really poor. It was ok for booking but when changes had to be made at the last minute they were totally uninformed.

Tour

Great destinations. Great barrier reef was great

Hello John,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have passed it along to our customer care team so we can improve the tour for future guests. Your feedback is important to us and we look forward to traveling with you again on a future tour.

Collette Support

04/14/2017

Service

Local tours were very excellent. Our tour manager did an outstanding job! Everything was arranged and well-coordinated. He made the air travel in country very smooth. Some of the hotels were outstanding but there were a few that did not meet our expectations. The hotel in Sydney was too far away from the main attractions. Restaurants where Collette provided meals were mixed as far as satisfaction. The Greek restaurant in Sydney was not good at all. The lamb was extremely tough and fatty. No one in our group ate it. The hotel restaurant in Queenstown had good food but the service was worse than slow. All breakfast meals were terrific! We were very pleased with the number of attractions we were able to see in the 3 weeks but it did require being on the tour bus most mornings by 7 a.m. A couple of mornings we departed before daylight. It seemed we never had dinner before 7 or 7:30, which was late for us.

Australia and NZ in 3 Weeks -Bucket List Happily Accomplished!

Service

The tour guide, variety of experience, meal inclusions, and pace of the trip were excellent! We have already recommended Collette to several of our friends. This was a "bucket list" trip and didn't disappoint. We actually spent less money on meals than planned, since there were enough included meals in the tour.
The hotels were centrally located, which gave us opportunity to explore on our own, and the tours started early enough in the day that we packed in plenty of sightseeing. 3 weeks sounds like a long time - but we were entertained and knew what to expect each day. This was largely due to our tour guide who had amazing attention to detail. Her transportation coordination of internal flights alone was amazing.

Tour

The variety of available activities really made this a great trip. Here are a few of my favorite things:
-Seeing an opera in the Sydney Opera house after learning about it on the morning tour was fantastic. We enjoyed having dinner at a cafe on the dock and the view of the bridge and opera house prior to the performance.
-Toasting with champagne at Uluru rock at sunset was a treat.
-Snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef was a highlight too. I never thought I'd be able to do something like that.
-The aboriginal led hike through the rain forest in Cairns gave us insight into their way of life.The ruggedness of the trail made it more fun.
-The view of Mt. Cook in the The Hermitage hotel was outstanding.
-The tea and scones at the NZ farm was a treat and really getting to talk to the farmer after he sheared the sheep was fun.
-Dinner with a NZ family on our last night really gave us insight into the way real people live. Our hosts were warm and friendly.

Very well organzed tour director, worry free travel. Good food and excellent accomodations. Good location of hotels.

Tour

Excellent locations and good experience from Outback to the modern.
Too much time was wasted in flying to the same locations over and over again. The tour lay out could be better organized.

Hello Pratap,

We're pleased to hear you had a great time touring the Outback! Thank you for sharing your feedback about the flights and organization of the itinerary. We will pass it along to our product team for review.
We appreciate you and look forward to travelling with you again soon.

Collette Support

03/24/2017

Trip was great but the service prior was less than expected.

Service

I talked to 5 different people and got 5 different answers about whether or not I would be able to scuba dive on this trip. if they don't know they should say so or find out. also, our flight was cancelled and I expected more help with finding other flights than what I received. in fact, I felt you should have known the flight was cancelled and notified me??

Tour

Loved the camel ride at Uluru, Sydney, and all of New Zealand scenery.

Hello,
Thank you for your feedback, we’re going to pass it along to our Reservations and Air Teams to look into.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Collette Support

03/14/2017

Wonderful!

Service

We had a great trip, everything went very smoothly without any hitches.
Our Guide, Michael Oghee was excellent! He was very knowledgeable and his attention to detail made our trip effortless.

Tour

We love the unexpected, so when in Cairns the fruit bats were very unexpected and enjoyed. The optional tour for the Little Penguins was amazing, Milford Sound was magical.

02/28/2017

Overall the service was great. The only problem I had was getting detailed...

Service

Overall the service was great. The only problem I had was getting detailed info for optional excursions. It was not available on line but my travel agent was able to get the info after direct contact with Collette. This just caused delays in decision making.

Find a Travel Agency

Once you've found the perfect Collette tour, your local travel agent can assist you in making reservations. To find a preferred travel agent in your area, please enter your 5-digit zip code, then click Search.

Enter a Whole or Partial Zip Code

Request a Quote

Please fill out the form below, and a Collette Expert will contact you shortly.

First Name*

Last Name*

Email*

Phone Number*

Yes, I'm a Travel Professional

Yes, I am working with a Travel Professional

Please tell us everything, we want it all!

We really value your feedback, please be open an honest. Tell us where we can improve, how we can get better. This feedback is anonymous, but if you would like us to get in touch with you regarding an issue provide your email address as part of your feedback and we will get right back to you.

What do you think?

How would you rate our site? (10 being the strongest)

Talk to an Expert

Please fill out the form below, and a Collette Expert will contact you shortly.

First Name*

Last Name*

Email*

Phone Number*

Yes, I'm a Travel Professional

Yes, I am working with a Travel Professional

Get the Hottest Deals First!

Tell Your Friends About This Tour

Your Name*

Your Email*

Recipient's Email*

Additional Recipient's Email

Optional Message

Notes

Single accommodations are limited and are available on a first come, first served basis.

This tour includes moderate physical activity. The itinerary blends some longer days with shorter days and more leisure time. Walking tours, as well as walking slightly longer distances, up stairs or on uneven walking surfaces should be expected.

Due to early arrival times in some cities, rooms may not always be ready for immediate check-in.

Previous guests have indicated that a small gift from your area is appropriate and appreciated the night of your home-hosted dinner in New Zealand.

Due to changes in air schedules while on tour, the order of days in the itinerary may change.

The internal flights on this program are not included in the land price. All air including internal flights can be purchased through us.

Wildlife sightings cannot be guaranteed with the exception of visits to wildlife parks.

The internal flights on this program are not included in the land price of your tour. These flights need to be arranged and purchased separately if you arrange your own air. Internal flights are included with the air portion of your tour if you purchase air through us.

To complete your tour, we include roundtrip airport-to-hotel transfers when purchasing our airfare with your tour. If you have arranged for your own air, we are pleased to provide you the option of purchasing these transfers. Please note that all transfers will leave at pre-scheduled times.

Please be advised many airlines do not provide advance seat assignments until check-in at the airport. Advance seating will be subject to the airline's terms and conditions.

Visa Requirements:
US and Canadian citizens: An ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) is required for your travel to Australia. Travel Agents that have access to a CRS system can process your ETA at no charge or they may call the guest's airline no earlier than 30 days prior to departure (credit card is required). If you do not have access to a CRS system, you will be supplied with an ETA form and asked to fax this information back to us 45 days prior to departure. Please send the fax in care of the Australian ETA Coordinator at fax 401-727-2933 for US guests or 888-882-5820 for Canadian guests. Please include the (required) Reservation Number, Passport Number, Expiration Date, Nationality, Country of Birth, Gender, Family Name Given, First Name Given, Middle Name Given, and Arrival Date.

*Please note that the Collette Foundation site may not be available for visits due to school holidays, weekends or programming challenges.